The basic premise of the Project was that the most effective way to address fodder scarcity was to identify and disseminate new, improved varieties of fodder or dual-purpose crops. This would build upon existing work and baseline data to develop site-specific ‘baskets of options’ and to offer advice to farmers to enable them to select options that best suit their particular environments. Scaling up would take place through farmer-to-farmer exchanges and through the dissemination activities of development organisations partnering with the Project.

Findings from key Project activities in Phase I showed that the issue of addressing fodder scarcity was much more complex than simply providing technologies such as improved germplasm. Examples from India on improved groundnut and from Nigeria on improved dual-purpose cowpea indicate the importance of considering the circumstances, along with the interactions and other institutional factors, of all players in the system. The ability to adapt is an important factor in successfully coping with changes, as illustrated in a Project study conducted in Nalgonda district, India where the cash crop maize was readily adopted as other crops including sorghum, a traditional fodder source, were declining.  

The Project also learned about the importance of appreciating the different types of partnerships and that new partners may be necessary to address evolving constraints within the system. This was true for both the individual interventions in which the Project was involved, as well as the Project itself. For example, a link created directly between the farmers and the private seed producers in Nigeria showed how an empirical question can be addressed through action research, enabling a seed company to experiment with a new strategy of multiplying seed of an improved variety that they would otherwise have found too risky. As the Project evolved, several key lessons about partnering distilled:

• Sufficient time must be allocated to develop an understanding of what sort of partnerships are required.
• Consideration must be given to the different partners and the different roles they play, the different degrees of ownership and ability each has to learn.
• Technologies are a good first step to building coalitions.
• Mechanisms must be developed to strengthen linkages between actors in a coalition.

Project experiences have concluded that a new approach is required to addressing the issue of fodder and feed scarcity and that using an innovation systems framework should be considered. The focus of this approach should concentrate on the nature of the groupings or networks of individuals and organizations, and the factors that affect their ability to work in a systematic way to bring fodder-related knowledge and services into productive use.  This resulted in development and implementation beginning January 2007 of Phase II or the Fodder Innovation Project.